Reversing mechanism.



PATENTED JULY 19, 1904 G. P. SMITH.

REVERSING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT 11. 1903.

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I *yw UNITED STATES Patented July 19, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES F. SMITH, OF MELROSE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO SMITH SIN GLEBELT REVERSING COUNTERSHAFT OOMPAN Y, A vCORPORATION OF MAINE.

REVERSING MECHANISM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 765,346, dated July 19,1904. Application filed September 11, 1903. Serial No. 172,770. (Nomodel.)

To all whom, it ntay concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLEs F. SMITH, of Melrose, county of Middlesex,and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in ReversingMechanism, of which the following description, in connection with theaccompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawingsrepresenting like parts.

The present invention relates to a reversing mechanism, and is adaptedto be used, for eX- ample, in connection with lathe counter-shafts andthe like, the invention mainly relating to noveldetails of constructionand arrangement whereby the structure is made more durable andefficient.

The invention is embodied in a reversing mechanism of that type in whicha pulley loosely mounted on a shaft is capable of being clutched to theshaft to drive the same in the direction of rotation of the pulley or toact upon intermediate gears when not'clutched to the shaft, the bearingfor said intermediate gears being at such time held stationary and thegears in mesh with a gear on the shaft, so that the said shaft isrotated in the opposite direction through the action of the gears.

Figure 1 is a horizontal section of a reversing mechanism embodying theinvention, and Fig. 2 is a transverse section on the line m of Fig. 1.

In a reversing-gear of the type in whichthe present invention isembodied the pulley a has a bearing upon the shaft 6 and is normallyfree to rotate upon said shaft, being further arranged to be clutched tothe said shaft when it is desired to have the shaft driven in thedirection of rotation of the pulley.

The shaft 6 is provided with a gear 6 fixed thereon, while the pulley ahas an internal gear (6 there being one or more intermediate gears cinterposed between the gear 6 and the gear 0 the said gear or gears 0being connected with a member which is capable of being held stationarywhen it is desired to reverse the shaft, so that the bearings for thegears will stand still, causing the rotation of the pulley tobetransmitted through the intermediate gears to the gear 6 therebycausing the shaft 6 to rotate in a direction opposite to that of thepulley.

In the construction herein shown as embodying the invention the bearingsfor the gears 0, three of which are preferably employed, consist of pins0 projecting laterally from the arm 0 of a spider which has a hub orsleeve 0 bearing upon the shaft, so that if the spider is heldstationary the shaft is free to rotate with relation thereto.

The pulley a is provided with a chamber (0 which incloses all the gears,the web andthe peripherial portion or rim of the pulley forming part ofthe walls of said chamber, which is completed or closed in by a cover orinclosing member a", secured, as by bolts (4", along the periphery ofthe pulley and havingahub portion a, which bears upon the sleeve 0*.This chamber forms a reservoir for lubricant which keeps the gearsrunning easily and without noise, at the same time working out betweenthe hub of the pulley and the shaft to make said parts run easily whenthe shaft is being reversed, the said chamber also having anoutlet-passage a leading to the space between the sleeve 0 and the shaftto supply these bearingsurfaces with lubricant, and thereby reducefriction when the sleeve 0' is locked and the shaft is rotating in thereverse direction to that of the pulley. The member a, is furtherprovided with a flange a which prevents the belt from slipping off thepulley at the side nearest to the stationary member to which the sleeve0 is clutched when the pulley is being reversed, thereby preventingdamage which might accidentally ensue if the belt slipped and becamejammed between these parts.

In order to afford efficient clutching means both for the pulley and forthe sleeve 0*, I employ disks of considerable size having taperedfrictional engaging portions which cooperate with annular taperedengaging portions, the

said parts beingarranged to be forced into frictional engagement witheach other. The clutch for the pulley consists of a disk 03, having atapered surface (Z to cooperate with an annular tapered surface formedalong the under side of the peripheral part of the pulley, I

said disk being secured to the shaft by any i suitable or usual device,such as a set-screw (Z The pulley is free to move to a slight extentlongitudinally along the shaft, the movement being limited by the gear 6which stands between the hub portion a and the main hub portion of thepulley, the hub 0* being between the hub a and the gear 6 The'pulleytherefore may be drawn along the shaft until it is forcedinto engagementwith the disk d, the said disk being provided for this purpose withlevers (Z*, which are pivoted at d" in the disk, the said levers eachhaving one end d, which is acted upon by a cone (Z while the oppositeends (i of the levers cooperate with an adjustable shoulder on the hubof the pulley.

As herein shown, the main portion of the adjustable shoulder consists ofa collar (1., screw-threaded upon the hub of the pulley and held in itsadjusted position by means of a set-screw (0 the said shoulder formingan abutment for a hardened washer to, having lugs or projections a,between which rest the ends (Z of the levers, there being a secondwasher a preferably of fiber, interposed between the washer a and thecollar (0". This construction prevents the washer (4 from turning withrelation to thelevers and through the intermediate washer to,distributes the pressure, the said washer a further constituting awearing-surface when the pulley is rotating in a direction opposite tothat of the shaft or rotating free on the shaft, so that the ends of thelevers and the part against which they bear will not become worn in casethere is a rubbing contact.

The cone (Z is shown as sleeved upon the shaft and provided with anannular channel (Z to receive the forked portion 2 of an arm 0, which ismounted on a shipper-rod f, adapted to be moved longitudinally in anysuitable or usual way. hen the said rod f has been moved to the left, asshown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, the levers (Z will have been rocked ontheir pivots, forcing the pulley into engagement with the disk cl, sothat the disk, shaft, and pulley all rotate together in the samedirection.

In order to reverse the shaft, the intermediate gears are arranged to belocked stationary with relation to the shaft, the hub c of theintermediate gear-spider being provided with a disk 0 provided withlevers c, which cooperate with a cone 0 which is similar in constructionto the cone (Z previously described, having a channel 0, which is actedupon by the forked extremity e of an arm a on the rod f.

The disk 0", which has a conical tapered surface like that of the diskd, is arranged to be engaged by a cooperating clutch member g,

which is mounted on the hub or sleeve 0 so as to be movablelongitudinally thereon and prevented from rotation by means of a strapor fasteningdevice g cooperating with an arm g connected with the clutchmember 9, the said strap being loose or flexible, so as to admit of thelongitudinal movement of the member g, at the same time preventing therotation thereof.

The member g is provided with an abutment or shoulder g", theconstruction of which is the same as that of the abutment on thepulley-hub, therefore needing no further detailed description.

The levers 0 when acted upon by the cone 0 force the member 9 intoengagement with the disk 0 This locks the spider carrying theintermediate gears, and the rotation of the pulley is thus transmittedthrough said intermediate gears to the gear 6 causing the reversemovement of the shaft. The intermediate gears maybe constructed andarranged in any suitable or usual way to compensate for equalizing orvarying the relative speeds of the forward and reverse movements, saidgears being herein shown as simple gears interposed directly between thegears a and 6 thereby causing the reverse movement of the shaft to be ata speed slightly greater than that of the forward movement.

As has been stated,the arms 0 and 0* are preferably mounted upon asingle shipper-rod f, so that a movement of said rod in the direction tooperate one clutching device results in the disengagement of the other,it being thus impossible to operate both clutches at once, the pulleyalways being free to rotate on the shaft when the gears are locked, andvice versa,

there being, however, sufficient space between the cones to admit of anintermediate position in which the pulley is free to rotate idly.

To disengage the clutch members, springs a and 0 are interposed,respectively, between the disk (Z and the hub of the pulley and betweenthe disk c' and the hub of the clutch member g, the said springs beingcontained in bores in one part or the other, so as to be held inposition. These springs are strong enough to insure the immediatefreeing of the clutch parts as soon as the levers are released.

I claim 1. In a reversing mechanism, the combination with a shaft; of agear secured on said shaft; a friction-disk also secured on said shaft;a sleeve mounted on said shaft; one or more intermediate gears mountedon said sleeve; a friction-disk also mounted on said sleeve; acooperating friction-disk longitudinally movable upon said sleeve, butprevented from rotation therewith; said disks constituting clutchmembers; a pulley having a bearing on the shaft and being provided withinternal gearteeth intermeshing with the intermediate gears aforesaid,said pulley being also provided with a frictional engaging surface tocooperate with the friction-disk on the shaft, said pulley and diskconstituting clutch members; and actuating devices cooperatingrespectively with the movable clutch members, substantially asdescribed.

2. In a reversing mechanism, the combination with the shaft; of afriction-disk fixed thereon; one or more levers pivotally connected withsaid disk; a pulley having a bearing on the said shaft and beingprovided with an internal gear; an adjustable engaging. member mountedon the hub of said pulley and provided with a washer to engage-the endsof saidlevers and a second washer interposed between said washer and thebody of the adjustable engaging member; means for rocking saidlevers ontheir pivots to draw the pulley into engagement with the disk; a sleevemounted on the shaft; a gear mounted on the shaft; intermediate gearsmounted on said sleeve and intermeshing with the gear on the shaft andthe internal gear-teeth on the pulley; and means for preventing the saidsleeve from rotating with the shaft, as set forth.

3. The combination with a shaft; of a gear fixed thereon; a sleeve looseon the shaft; one or more gears carried by said sleeve in mesh with thegear on the shaft; a friction-disk fast on said sleeve; a cooperatingfriction-disk loose on said sleeve and held stationary with relationthereto so far as relates to rotary movement; a disk fixed on the shaft;a pulley having a hub portion loose on the shaft, said hub portion beinglocated between the gear on the shaft and the friction-disk on theshaft; internal gear-teeth, and a frictional engaging surface formed onthe pulley to cooperate respectively with the gears on the sleeve andthe friction-disk on the shaft; an inclosing case or cover secured tothe pulley and having a bearing on the sleeve on the shaft, saidinclosing case forming with the pulley a chamber for lubricant, whichchamber is provided with an outlet leading to the shaft within thesleeve thereon; and means for bringing the friction-disks and their engaging members into frictional engagement, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES F. SMITH.

Witnesses:

NANCY P. FORD, HENRY J. LIVERMORE.

